In a world where anime comes out weekly each season, one anime defied this tradition. One show released all of its episodes in one sitting, so anime watchers from all over the world could binge watch it before anime other anime in the Summer 2016 Anime Season aired. What am I talking about? Randomness in all honesty, but that is something that the show I am reviewing today decided to do. The entire show released all the episodes at one time. Hold on let me take that back. You could watch all of the episodes in one sitting if you just happen to be a Premium Member of Crunchyroll, but I digress.

Anyway, here is my 37th Anime Review for a show fresh from the Summer 2016 Anime Season, ReLIFE.

ReLIFE is a 13 episode anime that, as I previously mentioned, just finished airing as a part of the Summer 2016 Anime Season and was done by TMS Entertainment. The show is based off of a web manga that is written and illustrated by Yayoiso which has, as of this post, released a total of six volumes.

The story of ReLIFE is about 27 year old Arata Kaizaki who has recently become unemployed after quitting his previous job after only three months. One night after going out to drink with some of his friends from high school, he encounters Ryo Yoake who offers him a pill that return his body to the way it was when he was 17 and says Arata can now redo his life. It all is part of an experiment called “ReLIFE” which allows people who have become unsuccessful in adulthood and allows them to become high schools again for one year, all in the hopes of them becoming better people when the experiment ends. Arata agrees to the experiment and enters high school once more in order to figure out just what he is missing in his life.

I like the story of ReLIFE because although it does take place in high school, like only hundreds of other anime out there, but our main character is an adult and has seen the troubles that life has to offer after graduation. I think this gives the show it’s own feel and freshness about it because Arata is not just a generic high school boy. He has an adult viewpoint on things and has an adult opinion on typical high school drama that would not be there if Arata were not in the story.

During the course of the show there were eight characters that we spent most of our time with. We got to see glimpses into their lives as well as the situations they were in, some of which I think could end up being very relatable. Sure some of the times, to me, it felt like they were dumb high school problems but they are in high school so that is to be expected. Arata overall was a pretty main character. The story came across like it was going to center on finding out what Arata needed in his life and the return to high school helping him, but I think that it did more than that. He grew over the course of the show a lot as a person, having sorted through many troubles and fears he had developed as an adult, but he also happened to become an influence on his classmates as well. He would always jump in and try to figure out what was going on with one of his classmates and try to help them in the best way he could. The situations he was put into felt very much like what would happen if an adult really were in that situation, like not understanding any of the math or other subjects any more, and throwing an opinion out there and trying to help when he noticed that Kariu had a crush on Oga. I challenge you to watch this show and someone who was not positively affected by Arata’s appearance at their school. Okay maybe Honoka’s two childhood friends, Akira and Nobunaga, were not as benefited as say someone like Kariu or Chihiro, however the other characters grew and overcame tough situations with Arata’s help. I love the characters in this show, Oga probably being my favorite just because of how dense he is, and would love a second season (maybe after giving the manga time to release new chapter) to see these characters grow even more because I feel like they will.

ReLIFE was animated by TMS Entertainment and I think that overall they did a very good job. The animation was consistent and fluid without anything looking too odd or out of place. The color palate was really nice and bright but not too over the top. Just an odd addition to that, I thought that all of the characters had really pretty eyes. That had not major effect on the actual animation of the show, I just always find it nice when an anime has the eyes done very well. It also had moments where the animation would change if a scene took on a more comedic sense, with the involved characters becoming sort of chibi forms of themselves, and I always get a kick out of that when a show does that sort of thing. The soundtrack I thought was very nice. The opening, “Button” by PENGUIN RESEARCH, was a very catchy song and the opening itself really introduced us to the characters we would be interacting with over the course of the show. The endings did something that I really liked though. While the ending clips itself was almost the same for every episode, the song would change from episode to episode. And instead of having new songs they were all songs from the 1990’s, which is when Arata was growing up. I thought that was a really neat touch.

Overall, I award ReLIFE with an A. It is an overall really good an amazing show. Each characters has their own individual problems, with no one’s being the same, and they overcome those problems thanks to both Arata and the other people around them. It is a character driven show and I found each of the characters very likable and relatable. If you have not seen this show yet I highly recommend giving it a try. It is one of my favorite shows to come out in the Summer 2016 Anime Season.

And that is all that I have for this time. What do you guys think? Did you watch ReLIFE? Did you watch it all in one go or in multiple sittings? What character was your favorite? Let me know your opinions down in the comments below! And as always if there is an anime that you think I should try, you can leave that down below as well!

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